Improvement in hay-racks



UNITED STATES'PA'I'ENT OFFICE.

CLINTON STEVENSON, OF SOUTVEST OSWEGO, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAY-RCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 207,219, dated August'20, 1878; application I iled i `Tuly 9, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLINTON SrEvENsoN, of Southwest Oswego, in thecounty of Oswego and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Hay-Racks, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to construct a hay-rack which may beapplied to a wagon for use in loading hay, and when not desired for usemay be readily taken apart for laying away in a compact form.

My invention consists in connecting the parts of a hay-rack together bydovetail joints and mortises, and in such a manner that the removal ofthe wedges which bind the main frame will permit the whole rack to beseparated.

In the drawing, Figure l is an end view at the forward part of myimproved rack, one

side thereof being in section; and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Theother gures are separately referred to.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

a a are the side rails or bars of the rack, which rest upon the body ortruck of the wagon. These bars a, are provided at each end with adovetail mortise for a tenon on the short vertical posts b b. The tenonson the posts b are narrower than the mortises in the bars, so that thereis a space left for the insertion of a wedge to bind the dovetails to-Igether. I form the lower ends of the ladderbars c as wedges, forinserting atA the front end of the bars a, a, to hold the posts b, asseen at b', and at the rear the stakes d d are used for a similarpurpose, as seen at d. The posts b have attached to them the front andrear cross-bars e e of the rack, which extend at the sides beyond thebars a a, as usual.

ff are the side slats of the rack, which are supported by the projectingends of the crossbars e e. lThere are two of these slats at each side,connected together by strips g g. The ends of slats f are formeddovetailing, to fit into the dovetail flanges of the plates h on thecross-bars e c. The ends of f may be bound with metal to make them moredurable.

it' are metal rods, forming braces for the side slats ff. The manner ofattaching these braces to the slats f and side bars a isshown `by Figs.3 and 4.

-K is a plate attached to the under side of the strips g on slats f,provided with dovetail flanges, which take over the upper end of the rodfi. The lower end of the rod t' passes into a short tube or socket, Z,iiXed upon the under side of bar a. There are two of these braces t' ateach side of the rack, and they serve to support the pairs of slats f inthe center.

m m are cross-bars passing from one bar, a, to the other, and secured attheir ends in the tubes Z. These bars m serve to stiffen the rack, andalso to support boards, which may be laid on m, to form a bottom orfloor.

`n n, are the guards for the rear wheels of the wagon, on which the rackis to be secured.

It is sometimes desirable to construct the rack with its forward endnarrower than the rear portion, and in that case there should be somemea-ns provided for securin g the forward end of the rack to the wagon.To avoid bolt ing a cross-bar to the rack, I connect a bar, as shown byFig. 5.

o is the bar, with a mortise, p, at each vend outside of the bars a',through which mortise a stake may be inserted for securing the bar tothe wagon. The bar o is beneath the side bars a, and is theretoconnected by hooks g, secured by screws on a, and,A catching upon pin r,passing throught the cross-bar o at each end, so that it cannot get outof place while the rack is together. This construction permitstheforward ends of bars a to be nearer together than the rear ends, andto be secured to the wagon.

The rack, as described and shown, is complete and ready for use. When itis desired to take it apart the ladder c is raised to draw its wedgeends out from the mortises on the forward ends of bars a, and the stakesd are also removed from the mortises at the rear. This permits the postsb to be slipped in the mortises, to move the cross-bars e e' toward eachother, which movement releases the dovetail ends of the slats f from thedan ges of the plates h, and the slats f may then be entirely removed bydrawing the rods i out of the sockets l and plates k. The cross-bars e emay next be taken off by releasing the tenons of the posts b from theirmortises, and the bars a a drawn apart to release the bars m m and o.The rack is now'entirely separated, so that the parts can be laid awayin compact form.

When wanted for use the rack may be put together very readily Withoutthe need of bolts or tools, and there are no small parts to be mislaid.y

It will be seen that there are no extra parts to this rack; but theusual form of rack is connected together, as shown, in a firm andreliable manner.

I do not limit myself to the exact construction described. OrdinaryWedges may be used in place of the ladder and stakes for binding,` theparts together, and the slats may be connected to the cross-bars inother Ways than the one shown, so that 'the slats will be re leased whenthe cross -bars are loosened. These particulars may be varied withoutdeparting` from my invention.

Having` thus described m y invention7 I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The cross-bars e e', connected to the sidebars a by dovetail joints and Wedges, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. The slats f, united t0 the cross-bars e e', substantially asdescribed, and for operation as set forth.

3. The braces i, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The ladder o and stakes d, having Wedgeshaped ends, in combinationwith the bars a and cross-bars e e', provided with dovetail connections,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of the transverse bar o, having,1 mortised ends andpins r, with the bars a, having hooks q, as and for the purpose setfort-h.

CLINTON STEVENSON.

Witnesses:

HENRY P. FITCH, WILLIAM A. BABeocK.

